Blind Dates
by Jacky Higgins
Summary: On Valentine's Day, Mush feels like the only Newsie without a girlfriend. But will that change when Blink and the others set him up on some blind dates?
1. Blink's Bright Idea

A/N: I know this is posted late, but since it was written as a Valentine's Day gift for my very deserving and regrettably single friend Charmd, I wanted her permission first. It is reproduced here in the same form I got it to her in. The chapters are short, I know, but I hope they're good anyway. Btw- Mush is supposed to be in her position, and I basically gave Blink my personality. Only after she read this, she extracted a promise never to set her up on any blind dates…

"I hate Valentine's Day," Mush grumbled. He sank down on his bunk, the day's last few papers still in his hands. He kicked off his shoes and lay back. This stank. Every other newsie had a girlfriend to spend Valentine's Day with. They'd spend the day at Central Park… Or on Brooklyn Bridge… Or at Tibby's, kissing and whispering sweet nothings in their girl's ears. He didn't even want to think about what it would be like to go to Tibby's on the Fourteenth. It would be packed full of his friends and their girlfriends, spending a happy, disgustingly cute Valentine's Day together. Even Jake had a girlfriend. Heck, even Les was spending an inordinate amount of time holding hands with a little girl from his apartment building.

"Everyone but me," Mush groused again, tossing his papes on the ground and sighing.

"Heya, Mush!" Blink sang out as he came in, a few minutes later. "How's it rollin?"

Mush just made a sour face. "Great," he muttered.

Blink reclined on the bunk next to him. "I can't wait," he said absently, thinking aloud more than actually talking to Mush.

"I bet."

"I mean, I know I've only been going out with Chrissy for a couple weeks, but I want Valentine's Day to be real special for her, you know?"

"Yeah." Blink was famous for having a new girlfriend every few weeks. He had never actually achieved his dream of dating the mayor's daughter, but with his luck, he would kiss every girl in the borough before Mush even had a date.

"She's so pretty, I can't believe how lucky I am. Those blue eyes, that black hair, that figure… wow. How did a guy like me end up with a girl like her? Yup, I'm sure lucky."

"Yeah. I bet."

"Mush?" Blink asked finally. "Is there something wrong?"

"Gee. You noticed."

"Cheer up, okay? It's just one year." Blink got up and walked out again, heading down the stairs.

"Guys?" Blink asked tentatively at the poker game that night. Spot had come from Brooklyn to spend a few days, and a card game was being held in his honor. As usual, he and Race were wiping up the competition, and most of the boys had dropped out. Some had already gone to bed, Mush included. It was nearly 10:30, and the other boys were about ready to turn in as well. They had to be up early to sell the morning edition, after all. "I think Mush feels left out."

His statement was met with somewhat blank looks.

"I mean," Blink went on, "Most of us have girlfriends, right? Well, most of his good buddies anyway. Or he thinks we do. Heck, I've never had a girlfriend who lasted more than a couple weeks. Like there was that one girl, we were doing great until that time Les walked in on us-"

"All right!" Spot exclaimed, shooting Blink a fierce look. "Get on with it."

"Okay, okay. I was getting to that. Now what our buddy Mush needs is a girl."

"Don't we all," laughed Skittery, who was single and liked it that way, even though he pretended he didn't.

"I was wondering if you guys knew of anyone," Blink finished flatly.

Suddenly, they were all talking at once.

"Yeah! I know the greatest-"

"-And so pretty, you'd never even know that she-"

"-Lives right up the street-"

"-Just over in Harlem-"

"-Do you think Mush'll mind if he has to-"

"QUIET!" That was Blink. "Okay, before you all run right out and bring home every single girl you've ever met, let's set some restrictions."

"Blondes are-"

"I know this great girl who's-"

"But what about-"

"Ewwww! Too old!"

"QUIET!" Blink again. "Does anyone have any ideas? One at a time! Please!"

"I know this girl," Jack began, "Who would be great for Mush. She's our age, real pretty, a great person." And Jack described the girl in detail. The boys went around the room, each promising to introduce Mush to the girl of his dreams. Half an hour later, they had come up with three prospects.

"Okay," Blink said. "Jack and Specs, you guys talk to those girls tomorrow and see what they say. First date's tomorrow night, all right?"

The boys nodded, excited about their plan. For the next two nights, Mush would have two consecutive blind dates. Hopefully by Monday, the fourteenth, he would also have a steady girlfriend, courtesy of the other Newsies. Confident that their plan would work, the few boys still remaining awake trudged up to bed, exhausted but elated, and sure of success.

To Be Continued…


	2. Uptown Girl

A/N: Here you go! Thanks so much to all my reviewers!

"Okay," Blink said. "She'll be here in ten minutes." He was more nervous than Mush, and that was saying something. Mush sat on a chair in the front hall. Blink had banished the other newsies from that hall, and was busy making sure that Mush didn't breathe too hard and wrinkle his shirt. He was pacing back and forth, peeking out the front door every few seconds, wiping sweaty hands on his thighs.

"How can you stand this?" he asked, nearly wringing his hands. "Aren't you nervous?"

"Not as nervous as you are, by the looks of you," Mush grinned. "Calm down." He laughed and started to stand when someone knocked on the door.

Blink hadn't heard the knock and gasped. "Sit!" he cried, as if commanding a naughty puppy. "You'll wrinkle that shirt! That took me twenty minutes to iron, you know, and we made Snipes shine your shoes…" he trailed on, nearly hysterical with fright.

"Blink," Mush said, but his friend continued to lecture. "Blink. Blink, she's here!" he finally cried.

Blink went pale. "You're kidding! She's-" he looked at his watch "-right on time. Oh. Well, let her in! Don't make her stand there!"

"Blink," Mush said, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Relax. I'll be back in a few hours." He turned just before he reached the door, and waved jokingly. "Bye! Don't sit up." He laughed, knowing Blink wouldn't sleep until he was satisfied he had heard every detail.

Mush opened the door to find the most beautiful girl he had ever seen standing there. Right then, he knew the night was going to be a disaster. She was beautiful and regal, and he had no idea where Jack had ever met her. Though nearly a foot shorter, she managed to look down her shapely nose at everyone around her. He took a deep breath and tried to think positive thoughts.

"You must be…" Mush paused. He thought hard, but couldn't remember her name. Regina? Betty? Delores? It was nothing he heard much. He couldn't remember…

"Alice," she said. Whoops. It was perfectly ordinary. But she sure wasn't.

"And you are?" Alice asked.

"Mush," he said, bowing slightly. She raised one eyebrow.

"What have you planned for us tonight… Mush?" she asked.

"Well, I thought we'd, you know, have dinner, maybe go for a walk. The Bridge is pretty this time of day."

She looked shocked. "Never would I frequent such a place! Why, I could be robbed… beaten up… all manner of terrible things could happen. No, I think I will instruct Frederick to take us elsewhere." She turned and swept to the carriage that waited.

In a last ditch attempt to be chivalrous, Mush hurried ahead of her and helped her into the carriage. He earned his first approving look of the evening.

"Frederick!" She called. "Oh, Frederick!"

Frederick swung to the side of the carriage. "Yes, miss?"

"Frederick, would you be so good as to take us somewhere… respectable?"

"Yes, Miss," Frederick replied. He swung back to the top of the carriage and clucked to the horses. Mush wished desperately to be up there with him, anywhere but in this over-upholstered, overstuffed, _pink_ carriage with this girl.

"So…" he said, scrambling to come up with a decent topic of conversation.

"What do you _do_ all day?" Alice interrupted.

"I- I sell papes, that is, papers," he stammered. Mush stopped and took a deep breath. It would all be over in a few hours, now to get through them without sounding like an idiot. "I sell the World, near Bottle Alley, sometimes down at the Harbor, wherever there's a free spot."

"Bottle Alley? Isn't that terribly dangerous?"

"Sometimes," he admitted, trying to sound nonchalant, "But I don't have too many problems. Get beat up, once in a while, but you know, all in a day's work." He shrugged.

"My goodness!"

"What do you do?" he asked. It was only fair that the questions would go both ways.

"I?" she said, surprised. "Why, I have lessons with my governess; learn to play the piano, dance, and the finer things I'll need to know when I'm married."

Mush felt this was moving things a little quickly. He was trying to think how to say that without offending her when the carriage stopped.

Mush stepped out of the carriage, offering his hand to the girl. He didn't have to like this, but he certainly had to be polite. It was expected of him.

"Ohhh, Frederick!" Alice squealed. "The Opera! Oh, thank you!"

Mush felt himself blushing. "I…" he swallowed. "I don't have any money for that. Selling papes doesn't exactly pay real well…"

"Oh, that," she said, disdainfully. "Frederick will take care of the finances. Won't you Frederick?" she turned to him, pleading.

"Of course," said Frederick, bowing politely. He shot Mush a pained look as Alice gathered her skirts and swept into the theatre.

Mush had never felt so uncomfortable in his life. Not only did he not understand a word of the Italian that the Opera was sung in, he hated the voices. To top it all off, he was the only one not dressed to the nines in beautiful clothes. He was grateful when it was all over.

"Where did you meet her?" Mush asked Jack, when he was finally back in the comfort of the Lodging house. It was the second thing he did when he got home. The first was to take the shirt off and wrinkle it, making sure Blink noticed. Jack shrugged.

"Friend of the family," he offered. He was trying to go to sleep and annoyed at being woken up. "Cousin's friend. No idea how they know each other."

"All I can say is," Mush began, "Tomorrow night's gotta be better."

Blink grinned. "Come on, look on the bright side. That's one more girl you know you don't wanna date."

Mush just threw a pillow at his smartass friend's head.

To Be Continued…


	3. Harlem

Here it is, chapter three. Only one more to go after this. See, when I first wrote this, I was gonna put each chapter in a separate envelope and leave them at my friend's classes for her to find throughout the day, only that didn't work out. So I emailed it to her, and… anyway, I took out my goofy author's notes and replaced them with different ones for posting purposes. I've already finished the whole story, so it's just a matter of posting the last bit. Enjoy!

"Okay, now this time dress up real nice," Blink was saying, "and take her someplace for a real classy time." Again, Blink was pouring his heart and soul into getting Mush ready. Mush, as usual, was taking it with characteristic good humor.

"I know," he said, grinning. "You worry about Chrissy, I'll handle this girl. What'd Race say her name was?"

"That's another thing!" Blink exclaimed jumping on that fact. "Don't forget her name! It's Alex. Remember that- Alex."

"Alex," Mush repeated firmly, hearing a knock on the door. Race hurried downstairs, just as Mush grasped the knob.

"Mush!" he said. "Remember, her name's Alex…"

"I know!" Mush fumed, though he was laughing. "Geez, you'd think-"

"No," Race said, "I just mean, she's just some girl I know from the tracks, so don't expect her to be-" he stopped short and shook his head as Mush opened the door.

For the second time in two days, Mush nearly had a heart attack. The girl who stood before him this time was Alice's opposite. Where Alice had dressed in fussy gowns, Alex dressed in ratty pants and a loose shirt that was unbuttoned to the point of indecency. She had a thick cigar stuck between her teeth, and she punched Mush in the arm by way of greeting.

"Heya, Mac," she mumbled around the cigar. She nodded at Race and pulled Mush out the door.

For the second time in two nights, Mush sighed as he left the Lodging House. It was going to be a long night.

"What's on the schedule?" she asked, still puffing on the smelly cigar. The smell was starting to make Mush feel sick.

"Ah, I was thinking dinner, maybe a show…" he said.

"I know!" she blurted around the cigar. "There's a poker tournament over in Harlem. Let's go check it out."

Images of the big, tough Harlem boys came into Mush's mind.

"I really don't think…" he started to say, but Alex pulled him along.

Before he knew it, Mush was being pulled by the arm halfway across the city to the borough of Harlem. Once they reached the Harlem Lodging House, Alex pulled him inside and introduced him to the other boys. Mush smiled and waved weakly, not liking the way they were looking at him.

"Deal 'im in," a big, tough boy mumbled around a cigar that was identical to Alex's.

"Mush," Alex said, suddenly sounding positively ladylike against the harsh, deep voices of the Harlem boys. "This is my brother, Blade."

Blade nodded sharply at Mush. "You be good to my kid sister," he warned. The faint outline of a knife was visible in his pocket.

Mush gulped. Terrific. She had a brother.

He was never sure how exactly he survived the evening. It was tense, he knew that, and he had a feeling that it was Alex's presence that kept him out of trouble.

"Lighten up," one of the boys suggested, passing Mush a beer.

"Sure," Mush replied. It wasn't good to argue with dangerous drunk boys. Especially on their territory. Still, he had no wish to make himself sick, so he took a sip, just for appearances, and poured the rest out the window while no one was looking.

"Come on, Mush," Alex slurred, still puffing on the cigar. "Play a hand with us."

"No," he tried. "Really, I couldn't. My… ah… that is… I'm not selling like I should. I don't have the money." Whew. That was one way to handle it.

"Don't worry about it, we don't have to play for money this time around," Blade offered generously. They got through two hands before Alex suggested that she and Mush take a walk.

They only made it as far as the corner. Before Mush knew it, he was being kissed, and he didn't like it. Like most of the things that happened that evening, he wasn't sure how it came about. She just grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed their mouths together. That was how Blade found them.

He grabbed Mush by the shoulders, and swung him around.

The next thing Mush knew, he was sitting alone on the curb. In Harlem. At night. Though the world was spinning around him, he struggled up and hurried back to Manhattan and safety.

"I don't know where you people find these girls," he griped as he sat on his bunk, nursing broken ribs and a black eye. He lay back, pressing a wet towel to his face, utterly exhausted. "Race, do us all a favor. Don't ever introduce me to any of your gambling buddies," he added as Race entered. Seeing him lying in bed, holding a towel over his eyes and massaging his sore ribs, Race's jaw dropped.

"Geez, Mush-" he began, but stopped. "I mean, I-"

"Save it," Mush said flatly. "Just don't bring her back here. She kissed me and I got beat up for it." He grinned suddenly. "Would have been worth it, under different circumstances."

Blink just sighed, rolling his eyes skyward.

To Be Continued…


	4. Valentines Day

Yes, I am still around. No, I'm not writing as much as I would like to be. Still, here's the last chapter. Enjoy, everyone!

Mush made a sour face as he climbed out of bed that Monday morning. Due to the fantastically unsuccessful nature of Blink's bright idea, he had two broken ribs and an eye that had swollen shut overnight, but no girlfriend. He looked terrible. He felt worse. Nevertheless, mush pulled himself out of bed, washed and shaved around the cuts and bruises on his face, and slouched out the door in the direction of the distribution center.

The lovestruck looks on his friend's faces didn't help his mood.

"Hey, Mush," blink said, before turning to the counter. "Hundred papes," he tossed at Weasel, flipping Morris Delancey off, non to discreetly, as he did so. Blink moved forward to make room for Mush.

"Fifty," Mush said, his voice expressionless, not even moving to insult the Delanceys.

"Look, I'm sorry it didn't work out with those girls-" Blink began, but Mush stopped him.

"Don't worry about it," he said tonelessly. Before Blink could respond, he walked off.

It was the worst day Mush could remember. Nothing went right. He sold fewer papes than he had expected, couldn't invent any good headlines and, what was worse, he had to put up with watching potential customers kissing when they could have been reading papes. Red and pink were everywhere. Even the boxing ring near Bottle Alley was covered in limp red, pink and white streamers. Looking at it made Mush sick.

As if that wasn't enough, there was some new girl selling in his territory. He showed up to find the usual assortment of bums and drunks who bought from him already holding papes. When he asked where they had bought them, the answer was always the same.

"From that girl. Don't you know her?"

It wasn't until afternoon that Mush finally caught up to the girl.

"Hey," he said roughly, grabbing her shoulder. "This is my territory. You need help finding your own, go talk to Jack."

"Excuse me?" she replied, turning around.

Mush's breath caught in his throat. She was pretty. Not just pretty, but _pretty_. Her hair was a dark, chocolate brown with subtle red highlights that shone as the afternoon sun hit them.

_Perfect._

Her eyes were a deep blue and seemed to smile, even as she glared at him.

_Even better._

"I'm sorry," he was quick to apologize. She smiled at him. And it could have been his imagination, but he could have sworn she was blushing.

"It's okay," she said. "I should have checked first. I mean, I'm new at this and…"

"No, really, it's okay," he said. "By the way, I'm Mush."

"Charmd, I'm sure," she replied. Only after she spoke did she realize that he hadn't gotten the joke.

"My name is Charmd," she repeated and he laughed, sheepishly.

Then, not thinking before he spoke, he added, "Do you want to go to Tibby's? That is, to dinner? Do you want to? Go, that is. If you want to."

"I got it," she laughed, and he thought he could hear bells ringing. "Sure."

Somehow, as they walked in the direction of the diner, her hand found his and she smiled up at him.

_Maybe,_ he thought, _Valentine's Day isn't so bad after all…_

Did you enjoy it? I know the last chapter was short, but oh well. I'm thinking of doing a 'series' if you will, of holiday stories. Tell me, would I have a readership for them? Review, please!


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